Keywords: accident, accident prevention model, construction accident, construction safety, construction management, intelligent system, expert advisor.

The intelligent system that functions as a construction site safety advisory tool described in this paper will greatly benefit the construction industry. In addition to humanitarian interests in reducing the human suffering resulting from injuries, safety programs make economic sense as a method for controlling the rising cost of medical care, liability insurance, not to mention its benefit to the firms' reputation. The concern for safety is critical in larger firms, where much is at stake in terms of liability and reputation. However, in both small and large firms, creating the "culture of safety" required to achieve this goal is more easily conceptualized than realized. The software described in the paper is intended to support large and small construction firms alike in achieving their stated safety goal.

The intelligent advisor for construction site safety will guide contractors in creating safety programs individualized for various job sites, maintaining a safe workplace, and understanding the different elements that affect on-site safety. Accident prevention always begins with instilling a culture of safety in a firm's management and workers so that the techniques become a workplace habit for all. How is a culture of safety achieved? Institutions devoted to safety can help make safety a habit by monitoring and enforcing safety regulations. The first step to making safety a habit is learning and understanding safety techniques and how to apply these techniques. Most often just reading regulations such as those stated by regulatory agencies is not sufficient.

This advisory system consists of three main components: the knowledge base unit, the brain (embedded rules) of the intelligent system, and the safety advisor. The knowledge base houses safety codes for a construction environment. When in use, the system queries the construction company concerning their safety program, evaluates the program, and determines its sufficiency. The system employs if-then production rules to assess this sufficiency and compares the company's program with an acceptable program contained in the system's knowledge base.

The safety advisor is designed to be a tool for both newly formed and well- established firms. This system has the capability to address the need for construction companies to create safety programs that will help contractors maintain safe job sites. At the same time, this advisory system will help these companies to better understand work performance, elements that effect on-site safety, management role in construction safety, and the relation between project control and reducing accidents on construction sites. The system can also be used as a tool to educate construction workers, company management, and engineering students alike, creating a culture of safety on construction sites. Finally, the safety advisor recommends safety program improvements. It encapsulates new methods of decreasing or eliminating construction-related injuries and fatalities and relates these to requirements set forth by safety regulatory agencies.

This intelligent advisor described in this paper is currently under development. It will be validated when completed and used to address different concerns within the construction firms throughout the world.

It is anticipated that the intelligent advisor will find many applications in the construction industry. For example, this system could be used as an educational tool, to address the importance of health and safety on site, to illustrate different components of on site health and safety programs, and to clarify the importance of the top management involvement and commitment to safety. The system could also be used as a management/evaluation tool. The firm's management could use it to manage their health and safety program, point out areas that need to be carefully considered, and to update and modify the firm's safety program relative to changes in the firm's type of work performed and hazards associated with a given type of work. Finally, the firm could benefit from this tool as a method of accident prevention, in which the system emphasizes the most important areas in each hazard consideration and prevention measure. The system identifies the critical measures that should be considered when dealing with each potential hazard on site.

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